Part 31: New Direction (2)

As a heads up, this entire update will be nothing but NPC dialogue with a couple enemies. So if you're not into the side stuff, feel free to skip this one.

We'll start off with the people we can talk to before recruiting Ionia.





You young'uns have it so nice...

Oh, are you all better now? Try not to be so reckless anymore, okay?

Oh, Boney! Oh, and you too, Lucas.

I'm pretty sure Boney has a better reputation than Lucas at this point.







(Now that the lightning has stopped, I feel much tougher.)

Something's always happening wherever you go, Lucas. That must be exhausting.



I'm not lying here 'cause of sunstroke. I'm just slackin' off. *munch* *munch* *buuurp*



Jack had a cold, but he got over it completely! ...A lot of time HAS passed, after all.

There you go.



New messed-up dialogue, so that's fun.

If you're gonna fall from the sky, at least say something first. That'd freak anyone out.



Now, let's check out the NPC reactions both before and after we recruit Ionia.

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! This old guy clearly has hobbies and interests different from regular people...

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! He smells like the forest. I think he should go back there, where he belongs.

This strange girlish boyish girlish person has been rolling around here, all tied up. But I dunno what to do, so I'm just standing here doing nothing.

She's asking for help, but the only thing I can think of is to stand her up. What should I do? Should I stand her up?

Can I say something completely off-topic?

No.

Come on, lemme tell you. Too bad, I'm gonna tell you anyways. Yes, I am. I picked up this doorknob the other day, but I was irritated at the time, so I threw it to the east as far as I could. I wound up dislocating my shoulder as a result. Actually, no, I was just fibbing about that last part.

If we cut her ropes... she'll be free, right? But what if she goes crazy and hurts people if we do?

And now after we help Ionia...

On closer look, this strange girlish boyish girlish person is actually like... whoa. Oh, sorry, sorry. I mean that in a good way.

While I was standing around, deciding whether to stand her up or not, you stood her up for me. I guess the ability to take action is an important thing to have, huh?

Can I tell you something else that's completely off-topic?

If you say no...

Oh. I was gonna tell you more about that doorknob...but I guess you don't wanna hear about it.

But we obviously do want to hear about the doorknob, so let's hear about the doorknob.

I got a gut feeling that the doorknob I picked up the other day had Thomas's fingerprints on it. That's just my gut talking, though.

No, no, no, no! I'm still scared! She might go crazy if we cut her ropes! And her beauty makes her all the scarier!

Alright, at this point we have access to the entire town, and considering we're in a new chapter, there's a ton of new dialogue. So let's dive in!



According to my latest nap, today is a Triple Lucky Day. So be confident, go forth, and do great things.



First, the town square.

A new friend?

If you need something from the map-loving and map-owning Mapson, it must be a map, yes? Oh, hi there, Lucas. That's a strange friend you have with you. No, no, no. I don't mean there's anything wrong with that. What? Aeolia's house, you say? I don't know who that is, but I think it's around here somewhere. I'll mark your map for you.

And so he'll mark Aeolia's house, in case you don't remember where it is. Talk to him again...

That peddler hasn't been around lately. What was it? Fassad or something? I forget.

W-w-what?! What?! What're you trying to scare me for?! Get out of here! Leave! Leave this village!

Eww! You filthy thing! Shoe! Huh? Shoe? Shoo? ...Get out!

Of course, Pusher and his wife are becoming less and less friendly to us.



My name is Sebastian, and working busily is all I do.

Major character development for Sebastian. I know everyone was waiting for this moment.

Wow! What a pretty person!

Oh, hi there, Lucas. You know, you should really be mindful of who you make friends with...

Have you finally started to go crazy too?

It seems the factory's been closed down. So I expected my little Biffy and Butchy to come back home, but they wound up going to some New Pork Something-or-Other instead.

You'll notice New Pork be mentioned a few times this update. It's one of those plot points that's hidden in the NPC dialogue, but a lot of the Tazmily residents are now considering life in the big city.

Oh, that's cool in my book. I think people should be free to do whatever they want.

Can I find friends like him in the city? If so, then I think he's really cool. But if he's from the forest or the middle of nowhere, that's just creepy.

Geez, you have so many friends! Where do you find them all?

For someone that's supposed to be the town's social pariah, Lucas sure has a lot more friends than most people in the village.

How are you? I'm just great!

Fuel sometimes eats the store's bread. I've seen him do it. I only eat it once in a while.

Can I come with you, too? Oh. I guess not...

Lots of people are heading to New Pork lately. I wanna go, too. I don't want to be stuck in this blah village forever.



Thomas sells the same stuff as Chapter 4, but at least he changes up his sales pitches.

Visitors from the big city have really dropped in number. Conversely, people wanting to leave this village for the city are on the rise. In which case, it would be best to move our hotel to the city. Right? Well, that's what I think, at least.

I'm all for moving this hotel to the big city.

That person with you... Is it a he or a she?







Lots of dialogue for this room.

(*whisper* *whisper*) Eek, exclamation mark. New line. What a lovely person, space.
(*whisper* *whisper*) Wait, are you sure we need a new line there?
(*whisper* *whisper*) I dunno. I think it would be better that way.
(*whisper* *whisper*) You bought too many rice balls. Were you hungry or something?
(*whisper* *whisper*) If there are any extra rice balls left over, could I have 'em?
(*whisper* *whisper*) How long are we going to keep at this?
(*whisper* *whisper*) There's no set time or anything. We can stop whenever you're tired. I take it you're tired too, though?
(*whisper* *whisper*) It's strange. Why is this so tiring? All we do is sit here really.
(*whisper* *whisper*) This is no time to be trying so hard to get these lines edited just right.
(*whisper* *whisper*) Yeah. Let's stop for now.
(*whisper* *whisper*) Yeah.

After that, you just get whispers with no new dialogue.



I dunno what to do, so I'm gonna stay in here again today. I'm afraid. Every day I'm so afraid. I can't leave my room, I'm so scared they'll demand that I pay up.

I love that guy. Next, let's visit the people loitering around Lucas's house.

I can't believe anyone would want to leave this village. But... it's starting to get hard for me to stay, too.

You! You guys are suspicious! ...But not nearly as suspicious as that "*hop* *hop*" guy. He's clearly suspicious! But I don't think he's up to anything bad.

It sounds like you've done all kinds of things while I've stood in this spot this whole time. I'm really jealous. In a way, you kind of scare me.

Baa... (I'm so jealous of the charred guys. They get to experience different things..._)

Baaa. (This is how I always wanted to look. *smile*)

Baaa. (My charred fur is starting to return to normal. *smile*)

Next, we'll stop by the police station before going to the beach.

Things've really quieted down here. It's just me and the dog now.



I think this music starts playing at the beach in Chapter 4, but I haven't linked it until now so here it is. It's pretty much the Summers theme from Earthbound.







This guy sells some high-healing foot and the Aloha Coat, which is mediocre defense-wise but protects against fire.

Bud and Lou are back at their spot, so let's hear their latest routine.

What did you want to grow up to be, aside from a comedian?
I wanted to be a baker, I guess. What about you?
Me? I wanted to be a merman.
What? A merman? What kind?
I'd be a fish on top, and human on bottom.
That's entirely backwards.
And everybody'd be suspicious of me, so you could call me a fishy "namrem".





Moving on.



No new dialogue, though they're still staring at each other. The will-they/won't-they tension is so thick with these two.

I'm not sure why, but that person with you gives off a magical vibe.



A little nap in the sun'll really revitalize you. Will you take a break?

This is another way to rest and recover HP and PP. Plus the sun is nice.



(The words "Oscar" and "Mayer" appeared to me in a dream. But I don't know what they mean. Oscar. Mayer.)

Do you know about the big city? I bet there's much more happiness there than in this entire village!

Each time my old man gets a year older, his "me"-ness gets worse and worse. Me, me, me, me, me... It gets so annoying!

I do nothing but think about myself, so I think that might make others not like me... But if other people would think about me even more, it would all balance out. Why won't other people think about me more? Lucas! I like you. You come to talk to me every once in a while. I could make you my successor, if you'd like. But it's lonely living my kind of life...

Yeah, this family's kinda messed up, but really, isn't pretty much everyone in this village inherently self-absorbed, even from the very beginning? You could probably count the number of villagers who held other people's interests over theirs on one hand, if any even exist.





Also, Dona can't swim despite living next to the ocean.

I've figured out what my bad habit is. I'll put it in one sentence. I never shut up.

Really.



You're asking if I sewed it? ...Of course I didn't!



At this point, you can choose to give it back or not. If not...

C'mon! Give it back!

But I don't give a crap about that dumb sweater so take it.



I didn't sew it, but I'll throw it away for you.

Alright, then.



No thanks.

Let's go to the train station next.

I'm so glad they gave me train station patrol. This way, people like you can come talk to me. Had I been given mountain patrol instead, I'd only meet bears and stuff. That's scary.

Don't tell me you're walking around with lots of ho-hum items again, as usual. Eat! Eat! Throw away! Throw away! You'll never have a tidy inventory otherwise.



Oh yeah, Isaac left to New Pork without even saying goodbye. Not that anyone really cares, besides you guys.



They're so cheap, they're practically free! A mere 50DP!

And if we accept...

In that case, how about taking the green train? The green one costs a little bit more, though.

Sure.

Huh?! Really?! Th-th-then it'll be 300 DP for three tickets...





Alllll aboooooard!

The only difference between the two trains seems to be the music that plays.









And of course the joy of riding a green-colored train.

If we choose not to ride on a train...

Oh, I see. Every once in a while, there are some idiot customers who go 'n walk along the freakin' train tracks, so perhaps that may be more to your liking, if I may so humbly make a personal suggestion.







There's a new enemy here now, the Squawking Boomstick.

Guess what it does.





Good guess!



They say they don't need Claymen anymore. Or the clay, or the factory... It seems no one needs me anymore, either. That makes me sad. Hahaha. I'm being sent to New Pork City when this place shuts down, too. Thanks for everything.





The factory's pretty much dead, though a few sad Claymen are still at the very end of the tunnels, likely left to be forgotten for the rest of time.



Next up, back to Club Titiboo. There's nothing there of interest, but...



and just when I finally make it to the top, I find out they shut Club Titiboo down. Since there's nothing else I can do, I decided to take my time to savor using these binoculars. I've been looking through them for three days straight now. I just can't get enough of it...



The view certainly has improved from the last time we came by.







Horsantulas, other than being very freaky-looking, pretty much just hit like a truck.



Like so. Best to take them down quickly, of course.



Give some consideration to our needs too, won't ya?!

If we try to backtrack to the highway, we get blocked here. The moles have nothing new to say.

There's not much else to do, so let's go back to Tazmily.



This time, we'll take the regular train.





And that's it for everything before we do the whole needle plot. After Ionia leaves and we do the Nippolyte cutscene, we get a call on our new receiver. It's nothing but a reminder on where to go next though.





No, no! I'm just spouting nonsense! Everyone is waiting at the Chimera Lab! I still haven't arrived yet, though! Th-th-the reason being that I forgot how to get there! I mean, I understand the directions, but... To get to the Chimera Lab, you take the Cross Road train to the factory, and then head west from the ropeway station! The problem is that I don't know where I am right now! Hello? Are you all right, Commander? I... Oh! Oh! Oh! I see the Chimera Lab now! You were right! You take the Cross Road train to the factory, and then head west from the ropeway station!

Yep, just as you just said.

Some of the NPCs have new dialogue at this point, so let's go through all that before we call it an update.

The lightning has stopped recently. But I have a Happy Box at home, though, so I guess it doesn't really matter to me anyway.

I haven't seen Mr. Fassad at all lately. Do you suppose he's just busy?

Club Titiboo went belly-up, but there are still some people milling about in that area. This is only a rumor, but I hear there's a creepy building somewhere around there called the Etcetera Laboratory.

I only just discovered this recently, while riding the train, but the chain-link shutters inside the tunnel are open now.

This may mean we can reaccess the highway now (haven't actually checked yet), but even if so I'll hold off on it until later.

Angie keeps watching me all annoying-like. I wonder if she likes me...

Fuel's got this crazy idea that I like him... But that would never, ever happen, just so you know!

Just seeing Abbot so lively and excited makes me happy.

We have to get ready to move!

They say New Pork is the place to be now. They say it's a super-humongous city. I wanna go there.

First there's a fire, then lightning, and now earthquakes?! Why does this have to happen to us? Actually, when I think about it, I somehow get the feeling this is all your fault. Please stay away from us, if you'd be so kind!

You don't seem to take hints very well, so I'll just come out and say it. My family hates you. Why do you keep coming here? Yet, even after I've said this, I just know you'll keep coming back.

I'm the one teaching Master Ollie about humor. Though I may not look it, I've been known as "Huck the Huckster" since childhood.

You know, however depressed you may get, as long as you have hope, there'll always be tomorrow. So try not to give up hope. And what's also important is humor!

I bet it'd be fun if we all went together. Lucas, won't you and your friends come with us?



The room that had all the whispering is now (or always was) a closet. That one guy's still afraid to leave his room, though.



*chew* *chew* But wow, is this place the sticks or what? *chew* *chew* Maybe I should've gone to New Pork instead.

The lightning used to rain down every day, but then it suddenly stopped. The attack seemed so intense at first, but now it's almost casual and like, "Whatever."



Back to the beach...

Don't you want to go to the city, Lucas?

There's a legend about mermaids. I've heard a little bit about it. The legend says that mermaids use the power of love to rescue people who're drowning. Isn't that such a lovely story?



No, no. I know, I know. I can tell. You wanna ask about Tanetane Island, right? Don't pretend you don't! I know you wanna know about Tanetane Island. Okay, I'll tell you about it. There's an island straight across the sea from this beach. It's known as Tanetane Island, or sometimes "Spooky Island". Actually, I was the one who thought up the name "Spooky Island". They say the only way to get there is to dive to the bottom of the ocean. Yeah, right! As if that's really possible! I think not! Anyways, that's all I know. But I do know all kinds of other good stuff. I'd love to talk about them, and I know you'd love to hear about them. What? You DON'T want to hear about them?

Yikes, no wonder his kids hate him.

Now to the east side of town.

Bow-wow-wow-wow. (When you hang around sheep as a stray dog, you start to feel more like a pet dog.)

Lucas. I think I'm going to go to New Pork soon, so this may be the last time we meet. This rural nowheresville suits you great, though.

This building keeps falling more and more apart. It's such a sad and lonely place now...



Just doing the needle thing causes a couple people to leave, like the grandmother/granddaughter here, and also the policeman in the station (leaving a stray dog alone to run the place).

Every time I see you, the expression on your face gets more and more gallant. But each time you see me, I haven't changed at all, huh? That is quite something.

Finally, one more NPC pops up right outside the factory.



Come back some other time, unless you wanna get knocked flat on your butts.

He's not very friendly, though.

Next time, we actually continue the plot and investigate this Chimera Lab.